I lost like five pounds of water weight over the last thread on trends

I hope the pseudo-craftsman trend ends soon. Soooo many houses in the area going in that seem to want to be craftsman or shingled or coastal or all of them at once. All are grey. All are overdone.

I hope for a return of restraint and balance in elevations and floorplans.

i do like that some are using soffit lighting instead of wall lighting or floods. It's a gentler look for the neighborhood.

Grey walls/cabinets, cement tile, shiplap: I think these all can look good on their own and even good together, but when they are thrown together like someone has gone down a checklist of things to add to a house, it shows. Lots of HGTV homes look like each room was designed in a vacuum instead of as part of a cohesive home.

Reclaimed wood barn doors that don't match the overall style of the home can die.

White oak floors, while (I think are) classic and something I love, will probably feel dated when the next floor color trend rolls around. I also love cement tiles, but think they are going to look really circa 20-teens in a few years, especially in things like kitchen back splashes. Dark gray, blue or green cabinets plus brass. "Farmhouse" touches in urban new builds.

I think subway tile will always have staying power. Simple, affordable, classic, and fits a lot of styles.

Classic (to me) thing that I hope doesn't become massively re-popular: natural wood stained cabinets.

Prediction: more dreck. Sadly.

Genuine staying power- homes that are very well designed for living. Not to any trend, but to the space the home occupies and its intended use.

I think there will be a growing number of people that are willing to put forth just a little more of the effort it takes to have their homes designed for them and their site; seeing how a home designed in this manner can efficiently accommodates their lives now and in the future, save cost, provide better resale value, increase the value of their property, and enhance their lives and the lives of others. There may always be a need for canned plans in some peoples minds, but for those willing to "stand on tiptoe, forgetting the meaner things, and grasp of it what we may", there will be bigger and better and more worthwhile things.

My prediction is everything written above about strong quality, thoughtfully designed spaces to match the wonderful undulations of the site, will be tossed out because I predict building labor and material costs will rise sharply, interest rates will rise, good land is becoming harder to find, and not enough people are making money to build a house properly. Canned plans and cookie cutter builds will prevail unfortunately.

All these planning and zoning boards have all these rules for the most foolish things, but none to actually demand things be built with structural quality, good looks, and individuality. It should be illegal to build 2 homes together on the same street that look alike. I need a variance to put a shed 49 feet to a side setback but can get away with some hideous build if I wanted. So strange

Actually, planning, zoning and design review are three different things.

Fortunately, some communities know and appreciate the differences and have a planning commission and a design review board.

For 2018, Bob and I had a long conversation over several frosty tall ones and we've concluded that there will a concerted effort to move into zones 9-10 for many folks:

I hope the barn door fad closes permanently, but the farm house sink lives on. Keep the walls; unless your floorplan is designed for "open concept", it rarely looks good to me.

Love the graphic, Virgil. Though I'm a little scared to find out where I end up on it. Possibly, "High quality, but a little weird."

Kayce, white oak as in the wood, or as it colored white?

Agreed on the barn doors, though I'd much prefer a drainboard sink to an apron sink.

Laurie, I could hope you would be right, but HGTV and some of the new developments locally suggest otherwise. ;-)

Taconichills, I think the land issue is primarily a problem in greater urban areas. Out here, not so much as yet. As for the rest, custom building has always been the exception, rather than the rule. At least since it became UNcommon to build it yourself. Literally. From kit homes bought via Sears and Roebuck to Levittown, to modern suburbs.

What will be the new Oh, Please Heaven, No! trend?-No idea..as much as I love design I can't get that emotional when I don't like something. I just don't like something.

What things will finally die?-Us? lol

What things, while mostly classic, will still look dated in 10 years just from such complete saturation?-white kitchens in houses that don't support white kitchens. actually everything classic that's used not where it makes sense

What will have genuine staying power, even though it's popular?-character. always popular; always will be:)

What classic thing to you hope will return to favor? Or maybe hope the masses don't notice so it WON'T become wildly overdone?-Frankly I don't care THAT much..it's mildly irritating of course when you love something for years and then you suddenly see it in some catalogue..but if you really love it you'll get over it and continue to love it

(I saw already several things I wear on TV, and curtains I have, on TV and in a book on design, etc-and it was long after I bought these, I guess we bought them simultaneously lol I just learned it's somebody else's taste too, later when I stumbled on some show or a book. Actually with clothes, my daughter enlightened me. "Mom! Rori wears the same pants! Mom! Some Olivia (I don't know the actress but my DD holds her in high regard) has the same blouse!" Ok..why should make me happy? lol. But nothing much I can do about it either.

Say I love purples..so what can I do if they go in vogue (Just not that Pantone shade since purples look best when grayed a bit..or if already so bright and clear then in accents like glass etc)

Or it appears I'm head over heels with Murano glass..all these flowers.(actually I'm plainly into flowers. and animals. since I was born, and never changed) If suddenly everybody's into it again-I'm not changing my lights..:) Agonized too much over them. (I bought almost all lights vintage, for all the house. Electricians hated us..passionately..

But now our GC has interesting portfolio))

Neither I'm changing my lantern terracotta tiles and star and cross mosaic if they're out-I don't care what's generally out, for my Spanish ranch they'll always be in.

On the other hand I'm from the former USSR-I should be very resilient to having same exact things as everybody LOL

Barn doors? Grey kitchen cabinets? Cement tile? Ship lap? "Modern Farmhouse"? "Magnolia Home" style?-gray cabinets, I have myself, only they're so warm they are almost taupe. I love colors that remind me of animals..which gives one a lot of colors to love..)) I love greiges, taupes..they feel fluffy to me.

Barn doors- wll continue to make sense in barns and farms. Cement tiles-where it was a very long tradition to make them.. etcetera. Whatever's authentic to a house in certain surroundings and context, will stay. Obviously people "trade" influences around the globe, and always did, since times they could travel afar-and will continue to do so. Unless overdone and fake and soulless-what's beautiful and inspiring is beautiful and inspiring.

"Magnolia Home" is a strange and a bit frightening phenomena..I'm not sure it's about design per se...Their book has same 5K reviews as the Bible does, on Amazon, and why would anybody try to write a review on the Bible is beyond me, frankly, but I have a gut feeling same people wrote reviews on this Magnolia Home book...

(I admit I didn't read it..I did read several reviews..:)

The cap on mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions may put a crimp on the irrational exuberance of 6000 sf houses. It will be interesting to see if taking away the subsidy for overspending on housing has any effect.

I love Virgil's graphic. I would add a few particular to mountain architecture: multi-million dollar homes designed to look like dilapidated mining buildings, over-use of logs for porches and deck railings and jumbled material choices using all sorts of reclaimed wood, rusted metals etc.

Re: new limitation on mortgage interest deduction. I predict that some enterprising bank will offer a sliding rate loan - higher % on the first 750K or the loan, and lower % on the amount above that. Since there is no dollar amount cap - only the loan amount cap - pushing your interest heavily toward the first $750K would be brilliant.

(can you tell I have been thinking about this / will likely be impacted?)

I'm gonna go with the answers already provided by Miss Sophie and Mr. Virgil (and Bob).

That way, if the four of us are wrong, I will be ecstatically surprised. If not, then no huge disappointment.

I do so dearly wish, if anything, we could move away from all of the gray. Nothing like having your most-hated color (okay, it's the only color I dislike) plastered all. over. everything. in. existence. for. years. on. end.

;-)

Holly - material (though I guess real wood will never go out of style) but I was thinking specifically about the trend towards pale, almost unfinished looking white oak. Like this:

ODD I agree with you about gray. I didn't like it in its first go round in the late 70s/early 80's and I'm no fan this time around.

But, years past brassy gold went with warm colors and dark brown.... at least now the walls are grey, but the brass or gold lamps, etc..etc.. look so much better [with greys and yellow pillows, etc..]

Well looks like at my house we will be making all kinds of terrible choices based on above. Grey and white kitchen, grey walls, oak floors. Oh well. Isn't that how it goes people choose what works for them?

No one said any of those were "terrible" choices. Only terribly trendy, and all trends come to an end. Like aprilneverends, if you still love it, embrace it.

And some of this is always subjective. I think oak floors are timeless. But I agree that colors can make or break you. I have zero love for the tawny "country oak" of the 80's and 90's, for instance. But I'm thinking about a bleached oak for my house.

Wall paint color hardly matters, since that's so easily changed.

And, as was mentioned above, many things are "trendy" in a house where they don't belong. And timeless and classic in a house where they DO.

Holly & Alison - I would put bleached oak in my home if I could! I love it, to hell with it being "on trend" right now, but it doesn't make sense for our house (we're building on slab and polishing the concrete).

"The cap on mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions may put a crimp on the irrational exuberance of 6000 sf houses." I also wonder how that &%$#@ tax cap will affect things. Sadly, around here $10k taxes are on the (very) low side for homes that are nowhere near 6000 sf.

I hate white. I hate it with a burning, fiery passion. Why did white kitchens have to be a thing? We hate everything about our rental, specifically that it's almost all white. Give me a traditional Craftsman, with earthy tones, lots of natural wood and built-ins any day. The only thing that will be white in our future Craftsman are Christmas lights and dinner plates.

Virgil Carter:

"Beigehaus". That's funny. Thanks.

Aliciaknits, I share this for you:

Beware the Pinterest House

I tend toward softer colors, mostly blues and greens, so I don't mind a fair amount of white. But I agree that it can wash everything out if not warmed up with some wood tones.

Sometimes this depends on where you live, too. I'm far enough North that this time of year it feels like the Land of the Midnight sun, and having interior spaces that are not cavernously dark through the winter months is nice.

Alicia I agree with you although my craftsman style house will have soft white woodwork.

Oh good, I can keep my white oak floors! We built this house a modified "French Quarter" style (yes, live in NOLA). I did not care for white cabinetry and was tired of white trim. So we went with an oyster white/cream color for almost all. Cabinets have the lightest glazing, mantle and trim are semi-gloss, walls are level 5 with eggshell and all trim continues with the same color throughout the house. The bedrooms and powder bath have just a hint of color (blue & green) that you can only really see as it contrasts with the trim. I do love it. At the flooring store, I was enamored with the exotic woods but I knew dark colors show so much dust. My thought was this -- what color stain would be in a very old New Orleans house in the Quarter or on St. Charles avenue. Made it easy and I have a very neutral medium brown - not reddish nor yellowish. I used that thought process to keep myself from getting off on trends, although my backsplash is a fantastic blue-grey slate stacked stone. I also have some cypress beams and a prominent old cypress cabinet in the kitchen.

Water features will make a big comeback:

Historical recall will gain new interest in certain quarters (especially Greece):

Virgil Carter Fine Art - When I read "Notch-Os", I immediately thought of nachos, and now I'm hungry.

aliciaknits - I laughed out loud when I read that you hated white with a fiery, burning passion. I use that expression a lot for things I hate. And I happen to LOVE white. I put in a white shaker kitchen 11 years ago in my old house and put in another in my just built house. Love, love, love it. I love an old craftsman too, but I just love a crisp, bright white kitchen with white trim all over the house. I blame it on growing up in Minnesota where everything was wood. I have wood PTSD. :)

I did end up painting our house gray. I don't love it or hate it, it was just there....easy to choose. So many inspiration pictures to choose from! I think naturally I gravitate towards warmer colors, so eventually I see myself repainting to something else. I will decorate with lots of warmer colors to offset it in the meantime.

I like how Prince Charles described his "fashion icon" status re Esquire magazine. He said, "Charles himself acknowledged his accidental status as a fashion icon at the launch party of London Collections: Men fashion week at St James's Palace in 2012. "I have lurched from being the best-dressed man to being the worst-dressed man," he said. "Meanwhile, I have gone on — like a stopped clock — and my time comes around every 25 years."

I rather think I like that approach. My own fashion style is that, as is my house. The key is to never be "dated" by one's style - to choose what is right and stick to it. No avocado green appliances, no micro mosaic backsplash, no grey-everything, no Tuscan bathrooms or kitchens. If one sticks with basic good taste that is appropriate to the house and to oneself, it's always going to look nice, even if not trendy. But who the heck wants trendy? I certainly do not!

As for my gray kitchen: well, that trend has not yet hit Louisville so I may be in luck! I didn't have my kitchen painted gray because it was a trendy, not look; I did it as it goes with the adjoining (not open) rooms and white did not, and I prefer a painted kitchen. But if what Mark Twain said about Kentucky is true "I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because they are always 20 years behind.", I think I'm in luck as I certainly won't be around by the time it actually becomes a trend here!

@HollyStockley - I loved the Pinterest link/article. While I do love the set of The Intern (very good movie, by the way), it's just fine on set. Not in my house. I, too, worry about cavernously dark spaces with lots of woodwork, but hope to brighten up with splashes of red/blue/green/yellow, etc. in fabrics, paint, knicknacks.

@cpartist - I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your building journey, and think the white will suit your house perfectly. Maybe more 'modern/updated Craftsman' style?

@gthigpen - "wood PTSD" - hahahahaha. I only hope I don't have that when we're ready to build. Honestly, I'm just tired of all the white right now after our apartment and now this rental. Wood furniture is not enough for me, I need to see/feel it more than that.

I have dreamed of a house with craftsman dark oak woodwork my whole adult life. However it is not to be for me. My first house, a 1927 bungalow had painted woodwork. When I asked the original owner's if it had originally been stained woodwork, we were told it had always been painted.

My second house was an 1898 victorian/farmhouse/early craftsman. The banister was gorgeous oak woodwork as was the staircase. However when we started stripping the door frames and the baseboards, we discovered it was what was considered back then paintable wood. So once again, no dark woodwork except the banister.

Ah well.